Good and bad news in Marshfield student survey results

MARSHFIELD – The results of the school system’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey were presented to the school committee Tuesday night.

Statistics regarding mental health were identified as ones to keep an eye on.

In her presentation, comprehensive health coordinator Marybeth Battis noted that among 126 seventh-graders who took the survey this spring, 22 percent reported feeling sad or hopeless for more than two weeks, while 19 percent of 161 ninth-graders and 44 percent of 153 11th-graders reported feeling that way.

That represented a drop among ninth-grade students, of whom 31 percent reported feeling the same way last year, but an increase in the other two grades. Last year, 16 percent of seventh-graders and 34 percent of 11th-graders reported feeling that way.

With 14 percent of seventh-graders, 12 percent of ninth-graders and 19 percent of 11th-graders also reporting having considered suicide, Battis said the school system needs to continue addressing mental health topics through the health curriculum.

“Even if it’s one student, that’s too many for me,” she said.

For almost 20 years, students in grades 7, 9 and 11 have taken the anonymous and voluntary survey, which gauges student habits and behaviors in categories ranging from tobacco, drug and alcohol use to sexual behavior, diet and physical activity and overall wellness.

Battis also pointed out statistics related to tobacco and alcohol use, saying they show that fewer students are trying tobacco and alcohol.